Government- Principles – Formation –

Purposes -

United States Government and PoliticsSpring 2015Miss Beck

Don’t be an idiot: Be a citizen.

O Ancient GreeceO Idiot: From the Greek work idios which

means private, separate, or self-centered; only interested in themselves and personal gain; a threat to democracy; if people act idiotically, then the community cannot survive

O Citizen: Politics comes from the Greek word polis (city); a polites was a citizen, a person committed to the public good

O ALWAYS BE A CITIZEN!

Defining the StateNot one of the 50…

Ancient GreeceO Aristotle

O “He who has the power to take part in the deliberative or judicial administration of any state is said by us to be a citizen of that state.” -Politics II

O State referred to a Greek city-state O Territory of a town and the surrounding

area

StateO Definition: political community in a precise

territoryO Each state has sovereignty

O Sovereignty: the government has the right to make and enforce its own laws without approval from others

O The United States is a state with sovereignty O The colonies were NOT sovereign because

England had to approve all laws. O United Nations currently recognizes 193 states

Why do we have the 50 states?

O 13 colonies declared independence in 1776

O Each colony felt it was sovereign O At the time of independence they

named themselves “states” after the ancient Greek term

O Despite uniting as one nation a short time after declaring independence, the term “state” remained

State vs. NationO People often use the term “nation” for

“state”O Nation: sizable group of people who

believe themselves united by common bonds of race, language, custom, or religionO Often, states are created around these

groups; however, not all citizens of a state identify with the nationO Example: Not all citizens of France are of

part of the French nation

Nation-stateO The territory of the nation of France

and the state of France are the in same areaO This is called a nation-state

Essential Features of a State

All 139 states share these features

PopulationO Nature of the population affects

stabilityO Do people share the same beliefs and

have the same values?O Distribution of population shifts

power O Urban vs. ruralO North vs. South/East vs. West

TerritoryO Established boundariesO Often leads to conflicts between

statesO Changes due to war, negotiation, or

purchase

SovereigntyO Supreme and absolute authority

within boundariesO Complete independence and powerO In theory each state should have

equal sovereigntyO In practice the countries with

economic and military strength have more power

GovernmentO Definition: Institution through which

a state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces decisions binding on all residents

O Each state has a government

Origins of the StateNo one actually knows…we have four theories

Evolutionary TheoryO Theory: the state evolved from the

familyO Head of the family served was the

source of authorityO Extended families needed more

organization eventually so states developed

Force TheoryO Theory: in early civilizations, people

had to cooperate to survive – this included creating barriers to protect people and property from enemiesO States only exist because people

needed to resist enemiesO States developed when people in an

area came under the authority (leadership) of a person or small group

Divine Right TheoryO Theory: certain people are chosen by

a god (or gods) to ruleO Ancient civilizations subscribing to

this theory: Egyptian, Chinese, and Aztec

O European monarchs of the 1600’s and 1700’s

Social Contract TheoryO Theory: society exists in a “state of

nature” with no government; a “contract” is developed between rulers and the peopleO Thomas Hobbes: people surrender

freedom in exchange for order and protection

O John Locke: people have natural rights; contract between people and government to protect natural rights – people have a right to rebel when rights are not protected

Purposes of Government

Purposes of Government

O Maintaining social orderO Providing public servicesO Providing national securityO Making economic decisions